yachting world diamond keelboat

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YW Diamond Keelboat.

Discussion in ' Sailboats ' started by DennisRB , Apr 28, 2007 .

DennisRB Senior Member

The Yachting World Diamond Keelboat is an old 30foot racing design. Here is a modified one with bigger rig. All the info I can find says they are all 30 foot. But I am looking at purchasing one which is nearly 35 foot as a cruiser racer. Has anyone heard of any Diamonds over 30 foot? Could this yacht be something else, or maybe a one off larger boat? In any case does anyone know much about the Diamonds? Are they a good boat? A modified 30 footer called "Saltash II" seems to be a fast boat in the Brisbane to Gladstone race giving more modern yachts a good run for their money. Does anyone know what mods it has?

Andy Senior Member

They are all 30ft AFAIK. But lots of them have been modified to varying degrees. There was one on the Firth of Forth up here in Scotland that had a reverse transom added (like the one in your pic) which brought it up to about 33 foot and gave the boat extra waterline length. I've seen another couple in GB which have had cabins added. There is an Aussie (i think) one which has been chopped in half and widened with a different rig etc too (dont know why they didnt just build a new one tho...). They seem to be nice boats to sail by all accounts - a bit hard work to windward but VERY fast reaching and running due to the very light displacement. This is supposedly why Saltash II keeps winning the Sydney to Gladstone. I considered buying the one on the Forth but chickened as I have too many boats just now. If one ever comes up at a bargain basement price up here again I would consider it - add a stern extension, build lightweight interior (6 mil ply) and cabin house, new rudder (see Phils Foils website for an example of a new Diamond rudder), possibly new keel too, for a cracking weekender/racer for not many bucks. Andy

Mychael Mychael

My mate who at the time owned a Dragon, spoke well of the Diamonds said they were quite fast. Faster then his Dragon. Mychael

Thanks guys. This boat struck me as a fast looking boat the moment I laid eyes on it. It has a small cabin midships and room for an aft cabin to sleep 2 at the rear if the deck is raised.. It may be a scaled up 30 footer. It doesn't have a stern extension that I can see. I should measure her beam. I think it could be fitted out with a decent interior for a few weeks cruising. (I am used to cruising on a 24 foot Hi Way trailer sailor) The interior reminded me of the old Hi Way with its ribs and plywood. I wonder if this thin plywood construction would be seaworthy on a larger boat? Being 35foot it seems like a decent sized boat, but it really isn't that big as it has a very low profile and narrow beam.

This here should help you identify the boat. This is a standard Diamond without a stern extension. The one in your pic has a stern extension. http://www.philsfoils.com/Diamond/diamond.html Andy

The hull shape looks very similar. I am going to measure it to make sure it is as big as the seller says it is. Anyone got any pics of Saltash? Here is another pic of a Diamond. The keel seems to be one formed piece of metal with a smoothly integrated "bulb" rather than the squarish looking bulb on the pics of diamonds I have seen. Its probably not even a diamond. It just looks a lot like one. Are there many boats which look similar?

CT 249 Senior Member

The above pic seems to be a standard Daimond hull with cabin added. Saltash has been modified over the years. I think the first mods included fitting the engine and cabin and a new rudder, which later bent; streamlining the keel bulb; and changing to a "soft" mainsail and possibly a new mast. Since then, the keel and rudder have been replaced again, to Andy Dovell designs, and I think the foretriangle has been changed. Originally the modified boat was about half ton pace around a triangle course as it remained a bit under-rigged and had extra weight and the prop drag. Last time I asked the crew, I think they reckoned it was now about Etchells pace around a triangle course and I think it did well at the IRC states. Downwind, of course, it flies. I've never heard of a 35' Daimond or anything similar.

Thanks for the info on Saltash CT. But what does half ton pace and Etchells pace mean? Is that good bad or mediocre?

I found out it is a Diamond designed by Jack Holt like the YW Diamond. Apparently he came up with a bigger version.

Just had a good look at it. The port side hull is very rotten and at least a 3rd needs to be replaced along with the ribbing and some decking. Plus a quite a bit of other ribbing has been affected. The owner only reckons that the ply skin is stuffed in one section and wants 8 grand for it. It has a 11hp diesel, new sounder and GPS plotter. Most of the sails are stuffed too. It has been two packed, and looks good, but only hides the rot. It would probably take months of work just to get it seaworthy. What would something like this be worth in this condition, and restored with an interior?

Ramona Senior Member

DennisRB said: ↑ What would something like this be worth? Click to expand...

There are currently 2 diamonds in what are claimed to be VGC for $15K. One is wood with cabin, the other is glass with no cabin. Then there is one is claimed VGC for only $9K. This rotten one we are looking at is 35 foot so is a quite a bit larger and has much better cruising ability due to the extra room, plus has a 11hp diesel, new sounder and GPS plotter. It's still not worth $8K is it, no way. Were were going to offer him $4 given the serious rot which he denies it has. Is the Van De Stadt 30 any good for cruising or racing? The Diamond 30 looks to be very cramped for cruising which is why we were looking at this 35 foot version. Edit. http://www.stadtdesign.com/products/vds409.htm That looks awesome! Is that the type thing you saw on ebay? Surely it must of had a reserve much higher than that. I take it there is a crapier version?

DennisRB said: ↑ Thanks for the info on Saltash CT. But what does half ton pace and Etchells pace mean? Is that good bad or mediocre? Click to expand...

DennisRB said: ↑ Edit. http://www.stadtdesign.com/products/vds409.htm That looks awesome! Is that the type thing you saw on ebay? Surely it must of had a reserve much higher than that. I take it there is a crapier version? Click to expand...

Thanks mate. A mate and I are sick of sitting on land and need to get sailing again. I think my mate has the contact details of the guy selling the Black Soo and we might take a look this weekend.